The Birth of the World
by David-El
Summary: One of the most common stories in myth is that of creation, so we would expect it also of Old Valyria. As we do not have one, this shall be my own version of it, inspired by the few myths that I know, and it shall be canon with all of my stories where the gods of Old Valyria are mentioned.


**A/N:** Okay, I was planning on just publishing a list of the 14 major Valyrian gods for my stories, but then I thought, why stop there? So I decided to write my own creation myth for the Valyrians. There will be obvious connections between this and other creation stories, including the Bible, so I must say, as usual, I own nothing that you recognize.

 **Se Sikagon Hen Se Vys**

 **Or, The Birth of the World**

 _By High Priest Aelyx Celtigar_

Before the beginning, there was Balerion, the greatest and mightiest of all the gods. But Balerion was alone, and seeking to cure his loneliness, he created the world and filled it with life. Balerion looked on his creation, and while it was good, none could give him the companionship he craved, so he created man, and for a time, he was pleased. Balerion had created man as an intelligent being, and he would often simply spend time with man in the Lands of the Long Summer. One day, man said to Balerion "There is something missing. I know not what it is, but it feels like there is a hole in my heart, great Balerion, and I know not how to fill it."

That was when Balerion realized that his creation was not complete. For while he had made man, he did not create a mate for him. Balerion had to consider the mate for a while, for most of his creatures were quite similar whether male or female, but with man, he would need to do something different. He quickly decided, creating woman weaker in body than man, but stronger in mind. Man would be strong to take care of woman while she carried their children, born to rule yet blunt and logical. Woman, while smaller and weaker, would be more emotional, cunning and creative, the power behind man while also bound closely to their family. To do so, he put the man to sleep, removed a rib and formed the woman from the rib.

Upon awakening, the man welcomed the woman with open arms, and the two were very happy, and while Balerion enjoyed the happiness of his two creations, he felt quite awkward being with them sometimes. But man's request gave him an idea, and he created a being more like him than any other, and he named her Meraxes. Like Balerion, she had great power over the world and was a being of spirit, though she could manifest as flesh when she wished. And like the woman she was based on, she loved Balerion and supported him in all things. So Balerion wed her, naming her his queen and goddess of marriage and women, but especially mothers. For as man and woman lay together and had children, so did Balerion and Meraxes. Each of their children remained as powerful as their mother, so Balerion named each of them as gods and placed them over separate domains.

Firstborn of the gods was Essovius, the goddess of love, children and sexuality. Then came Tyraxes, named as god of the seas who wed his second sister Tessarion, who was named goddess of the wind and weather. When the first man and woman grew old, Balerion created another: Morghul, and named him the god of the dead and lord of the underworld. Morghul then wed another of Balerion's children: Vhagar, the goddess of the harvest, who had been created when Balerion taught men how to farm. Balerion and Meraxes then had twins: the son, Vermithor was named god of the sun, while his sister Syrax became goddess of the moon. As men left the place of their birth and began to spread, Arrax, god of travellers was born, as was Meleys, goddess of home and family.

For years, the eleven of them were happy, and became more so when Tyraxes created what he called poetry, Tessarion created music, and then their first child took the two and combined them into song. The children of Tyraxes and Tessarion continued to inspire new creations of music, literature and the arts, so that they were collectively called the Muses.

But it could not last. For men had started to divide, and those divisions caused hatred, and soon that hatred bred something new, and a new god was born to dominate it: Vermithrax, the god of war. As he rose, Meraxes took on another title: goddess of peace, for when men sought war, she whispered the promise of peace and prosperity afterwards. That led to the birth of one last goddess: Caraxes, goddess of wisdom in all things. She was sought by many warriors, but also kings, lords, lawmakers, mothers, fathers and children, for wisdom is something sought by all, and found by few.

For years, these thirteen were the greatest gods Valyria knew the names of. We knew that there were fourteen great gods, for each had left their mark on one of the Fourteen Fires, but for centuries we did not know the name of the last. Then came the Desolation of Smaug, the greatest dragon that the world has ever seen. House Targaryen found him after several of their flocks lost members near the fourteenth fire, and accidentally unleashed him. For centuries Smaug terrorized the Lands of the Long Summer, until Aegon Targaryen brought him low and became the first of the dragonlords. From that day forth, we have called the god of the sky and volcanoes Smaug, after that terrible dragon.


End file.
